Watch a 1380-HP, RWD Nissan GT-R Drift at 189 MPH

Joseph Capparella

Apr 8, 2016

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Known for its complex all-wheel-drive system and unrelenting grip, the Nissan GT-R is just about the last machine you’d expect to go drifting. But the car that recently set a drifting world record is no ordinary Nissan GT-R. Tuned to 1380 horsepower and converted to send all that power to the rear wheels only, this highly modified machine is now in the Guinness Book of World Records for performing a drift at 189 mph.

Japanese drift champion R. Masato Kawabata was behind the wheel for the stunt that was performed on the 1.9-mile-long airstrip at the Fujairah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates. The record-breaking drift was set at 305 kmh (189 mph) with the car at a 30-degree angle. That speed smashes the previous record of 135 mph set by Polish driver Jakub Przygonski in a specially prepared Toyota GT86 drift car. Like that car, the GT-R was set up specifically for drifting, with tuning done by GReddy and testing performed on Japan’s Fuji Speedway in order to get the chassis prepared to break loose at high speed without loss of control.

We were more interested in seeing this event than we are in any made-up-for-Guinness “record.” Judge for yourself, but we found Nissan’s staged video of the stunt disappointingly brief, and the added slo-mo effects would seem to completely defeat the whole point of the high-speed exercise. C’mon, that’s all you’ve got from three runs and you pad it out it with B-roll of other Nissan racing efforts? But you know how you can make it up to us, Nissan? Release a drift-edition production GT-R with rear-wheel drive and 1380 hp.